From the Rolls-Royce experimental archive: a quarter of a million communications from Rolls-Royce, 1906 to 1960's. Documents from the Sir Henry Royce Memorial Foundation (SHRMF).
Letter requesting to continue building cars without thermostats due to problems with antifreeze evaporation.
| Identifier | ExFiles\Box 39\4\ Scan031 | |
| Date | 28th January 1921 | |
| X.3499 OY1/G28.I.21. Jan. 28th. 1921. Mr. Claude Johnson, Managing Director, Rolls-Royce Ltd., London, England. Attention Messrs. Royce & Hives. Dear Sir, X.3563 RE. THERMOSTATS. X.3499 X.3614 X.3456 We think it most inadvisable that thermostats on the water circulation should be used on cars intended for this country and ask that we should receive, at the earliest possible moment, permission to continue building cars without thermostats. (As you are aware, we had intended to incorporate the thermostat after the hundredth car.) The reason for our making this request is - that as far as we can ascertain, thermostats are a continual source of trouble in the wintertime, and the better method of controlling the temperature by shutters is already in use in this country. The facts of the matter are as follows:- (1) The actual fault encountered with thermostats controlling the water circulation is that the car cannot be made to retain the alcohol which has to be used in the water system to prevent freezing of the water in cold weather. It is usual to use a 30% mixture, by volume, which does not freeze until Zero F.{Mr Friese} This implies using about three American gallons of alcohol in the radiator at a cost of over a dollar a gallon. It is found that with such a mixture, as soon as the temperature exceeds about 140 F.{Mr Friese} the alcohol begins to be evaporated at a considerable rate. With a thermostat controlled system, the temperature in the cylinder jackets is such that the alcohol is always boiling; the gas escapes through the pin hole in the thermostat valve, passes through the warm water in the top of the radiator, and escapes, the result being that if the car is run hard in cold weather, the alcohol is lost within two hundred miles. Contd. | ||